A growing number of New Yorkers have been moving away from the city lights to Texas' wide open spaces, with the largest spike in the Houston area.

The Center for an Urban Future, a New York-based think tank, analyzed IRS Migration data and found a 34 percent increase in the number of New York City residents moving to the major cities in Texas, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio, between 2005 and 2010.

The group analyzed hundreds of counties across the United States and, compared to other cities that saw a decrease, it found Texas had positive numbers across the board, said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the center. According to the study, the number increased from 2,955 to 3,957 from 2005 to 2010 in Harris, Dallas, Travis, Tarrant, Bexar and Fort Bend counties.

"There are lots of positive things happening in Texas, Houston especially," said Bowles. "Given that at the same time, we saw declines in New Yorkers moving elsewhere, 34 percent is a pretty staggering. I'm not sure if it's the salsa or what. Something about Texas is particularly attractive."

Harris County had the greatest number of New York transplants. The greatest percent increase over five years was Travis County with a 96 percent increase, followed by Fort Bend with a 56 percent increase. Bowles also said people are attracted to Houston's because it is a major metropolitan area with low cost of living, areas with academia and research and a diverse immigrant communities.

The analysis further breaks down the different parts of New York City. The number of Brooklyn residents moving to Travis County jumped by 170 percent and the number of Manhattan residents went up by 81 percent. Bowles said this increase is likely because Austin is a great creative hub that has attracted people from the creative parts of the city.

Bowles said his group previously did studies and found over the last decade the number of transplants to Charlotte, Pennsylvania and Atlanta had decreased. Further studies showed a decline in moving to almost every place in the last five years of those moving from New York City, except for Texas. The numbers are relatively low compared to the millions of people that live in New York, but Bowles pointed out Texas is not the most logical move from the city.

"Other places on the east coast are fairly convenient," he said. "Houston and Texas overall is not a natural migration route, but it's becoming one because of the economic trends."